How lockdown drills affect America's children

All of Van Duyn Elementary School in Syracuse, New York, went eerily quiet.

On that cold November afternoon in 2019, there was no sound in the school’s hallways except for the echoing of footsteps, going door to door between classrooms. Students and teachers crouched in the corners of the rooms, concealed by darkness. One young girl covered her mouth with her hands to prove she was keeping quiet.

Michael Thompson, assistant director in the Syracuse City School District’s Security Department, unlocked one of the doors and peeked into a third-grade classroom where some students huddled behind a teacher’s desk.

“Nice work,” he said calmly from the doorway. “Stay in place. There will be an announcement.”